Away To Philadelphia
by kwebba
Summary: Mark and Roger go away to boarding school in Philadephia. PreRent High School MarkRoger.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I know there is currently a Rent fic about characters going to boarding school, but I swear I didn't steal the plot. I had this idea before I noticed the other story "Boarding School" by fufulupin which a really good Maureen/Joanne fic. You should read it if you haven't. Right now, I'm trying to make my parents let me go to boarding school (if anyone has any ideas to convince them to let me go 723 miles away to Philly let me know please!) so thats how i got this idea. Please review!

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"Mom, I don't want to go to boarding school," Mark complained after his mother sprung the idea, well not idea, more like fact of him going away to boarding school in Philadelphia.

"Well, you're going to, Mark. It's a better education for you and is in a safer environment," Mrs. Cohen explained.

"How is Philadelphia a better environment," he asked. That was just crazy. Philadelphia is like Tokyo compared to Scarsdale.

"It's an enclosed campus, Mark."_ Oh that sounds fun, _Mark thought to himself.

"I'm not gonna know anyone there! I'm gonna be the loser with no friends."

"Patty Davis's boy is going too. You know him." Yes, Mark knew him. Roger Davis, rocker without a care in the world. He was so much higher up on the popularity chain than Mark. Girls are always after him, everyone wants to be his friend. He was the exact opposite of Mark. "We set it up so you two could sit next to each other on the bus and be roommates!"

"Roger and I aren't friends!"

"Mark, stop complaining! You leave the day after tomorrow so make sure you say goodbye to everyone."

**Two days later...**

Mark lazily slumped into his seat on the bus. The past two days had went faster than he anticipated. He didn't want to go all the way to Philadelphia! Why couldn't he just go to a boarding school near Scarsdale? And what he really hates is he has to live with Roger Davis. Roger had never even talked to Mark. He probably didn't even know who he was. So lost in thought, Mark barely noticed that Roger had sat next to him.

"Hey," Roger said with no emotion in his voice. _I guess he doesn't like this either._

"Hi," Mark replied nervously. "I'm Mark." Mark held out his hand for him to shake. Roger sent an somewhat annoyed look Mark's way. Mark quickly took his hand back. "Okay." Mark shifted in his seat and gazed out the window as the pulled started moving. _Goodbye Scarsdale... _

Two and a half hours later, they pulled up at the bus depot in Philadelphia. Mark looked out the window and saw a van with the name of their 'new' school on it, Girard College. _Wow, over-controlling much? _Mark finally got up and he and Roger exited the bus together. While moving towards the van, Roger and Mark kept a safe distance from each other. They were greeted by a very happy woman.

"You two must be Roger Davis and Mark Cohen, two of Girard's many new students! Welcome to Philadelphia. How about we get going to Girard?" Mark smiled and got in the van followed by Roger. The ride was short and silent. The campus looked pretty cool from the outside. The lady showed them to their dorm then gave them the grand tour. After annoying the hell out of Roger for what seemed like hours, she left them in their dorm room to get situated. Mark actually unpacked his things unlike Roger who just lounged on his bed while strumming his guitar.

"You know, we're gonna be here for awhile. You should unpack," Mark suggested. Roger stopped playing and looked up at Mark.

"Is this an all-boys school," Roger asked. Mark was confused by Roger's hopeful tone, but shook it off.

"No, there's girls here too. Why?"

"Uh, just wondering," Roger went back to playing his guitar.

**Later that night...**

Mark pulled his shirt up over his head, not noticing the attention he was getting from Roger. He attentively watched as Mark stretched and got situated in bed. He liked what he saw, a smaller cute guy with a nice body. This kid didn't come off as gay to Roger though. And he wasn't about to say anything and make things even more awkward for the contantly nervous man.

Mark sensed eyes on him as he got ready for bed. Was Roger staring at him? No, there's no way. This guy was an asshole and wasn't gay. He had girls all over him. Wait, that doesn't make him straight. Maybe he's bi. _Oh, God, I wish,_ Mark thought. Mark was a closet case. He hadn't come out to anyone, not even his best friend, Maureen. He didn't need to give anyone anything else to make fun of him for. Mark glanced quickly and sure enough, Roger's gaze was fixed on Mark.

_Oh my God, did Mark just see me staring at him. Oh no, this can't happen. No one knows I'm gay and he hates me. He's gonna tell everyone back home for revenge. This is totally gonna ruin my image. Nice job, Davis, you just never stop thinking about sex, do you?_ Roger turned over quickly and tried to fall asleep and forget all of his previous thoughts about a certain scrawny film maker.

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**A/N: Oh, this is gonna be a Mark/Roger fic if you didn't notice... Review! Let me know what you think please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it took me forever to update… I'm a bad person, aren't I? Well I have a lot of things going on… I'm spending a lot of time with my girlfriend so I'm never able to write… oh well… so… here's chapter two… review?

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After a week at Girard, Mark and Roger had really warmed up to each other. They actually talked more often and Mark had caught Roger watching him a few more times, but didn't really care.

Right now, Mark and Roger were both doing homework across from each other at their desks. Roger dropped his pencil, leaned back in his chair and stared at smaller man across from him. Mark didn't notice right away, but when he did, he could feel himself blushing.

"Um, what," Mark asked, obviously confused.

"I just wanted to apologize for the first day we were here. I was being an asshole. I didn't wanna be here. I know that was a few days ago, but I was just thinking about it." Mark was silent for a few moments.

"It's okay. I didn't wanna be here either, but it's kinda cool now," Mark tried to be cool.

"Yeah, we don't have to be around our parents. We have like total freedom except for being locked on campus all school year."

"Yeah," Mark simply replied, not knowing what to say next. The two sat in silence for a few more seconds.

"You know, when my mom first told me that me and you would be roommates, I was like "Ugh, fuck, this is gonna suck" because I didn't know you that well. But you're a lot cooler than I first thought."

"You just thought I was some nerd who couldn't live up to your rock-star status," Mark asked jokingly. Roger laughed. "No, seriously, you're a lot nicer than people say you are."

"That's good to hear," he smiled.

**Later that night...**

Roger laid in bed that night. His endless thoughts wouldn't allow him to fall asleep. His thoughts ranged from school work, music, his friends back home, Mark. _Mark's a nice guy. I don't know why I never hung out with him back home. Sure, he may be kinda dorky but it's cute. His clumsiness makes him adorable. Like the way he fell down a few stairs as we walked outside. _Roger laughed at the thought. _He's probably not even gay. I bet he isn't. Ugh, life sucks…_

Interrupting Roger's thoughts was a loud crash. He shot up into a sitting position and looked over at Mark. He was sitting on the floor instead of on his bed. He fell off. Roger laughed and stood up to help Mark.

"What happened?" Roger questioned, offering Mark his hand. Mark took Roger's hand and was lifted up.

"Uh, I don't know," Mark answered. "I guess I just rolled off." Mark laughed at himself. "Thanks for the hand."

"No problem," Roger smiled warmly. Moments passed, but the two teenagers didn't move. They just stood and stared into each other's eyes. Mark wasn't feeling awkward and Roger wasn't feeling scared of being himself. Mark was the first to snap out of it.

"Uh, well, goodnight," he said quickly, obviously embarrassed by had just happened.

"Goodnight," Roger said automatically.

The two lay down, but that didn't mean they fell asleep. Both of their minds were asking questions like "What was that about?" and "Did that mean something?". Their restless minds finally let them sleep hours later.

**A few days later…**

It happened again. Mark and Roger found each other catching the other's gaze. This time Roger took advantage of this. He slowly moved forward and his lips met Mark's. Mark was nervous but he deepened the kiss. Roger slowly lowered Mark down onto the bed and pulled Mark's shirt over his head.

Just as things were heating up, a loud piercing sound was heard throughout the dorms.

"FIRE!" someone in a nearby room screamed. Mark quickly jumped away out of breath and the two scared at each other. _Did that really just happen, _Mark thought._ Why'd we stop? _He heard people running in the halls and the blaring fire alarm. _Oh yeah. Fire…_

Mark quickly ran out of the room while Roger grabbed his guitar before sprinting out of the dorm. Students huddled outside away from the building, waiting for further instructions. Most students were barely dressed, due to the late hour. A dorm supervisor came before the students. She told them it was a false alarm. Someone pulled the fire alarm. Moans and groans were heard as students walked back into the dorms. Mark and Roger walked slowly, a few feet away from each other.

Once they were back, they sat awkwardly on their beds, not making eye contact. Roger was the first to talk.

"About… before, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," he apologized. Mark looked down. He didn't want to make Roger think that he didn't want it.

"No, it's okay. I actually kinda liked it." He smiled nervously as Roger smiled back.

"Yeah? Well maybe we should do that again sometime," Roger said, still with a huge smile on his face.

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**A/N: Sorry my chapters are all short and stuff… this one was gonna be way longer but I wanted to wait another chapter for something to happen. Hehe. Well review, ok?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow. It's been too long since I've updated anything... Thanks for everyone who reviewed. I got 30 reviews on two chapters... Wow. Is this that good? Anyways, this picks up right where I left off. Roger asks Mark a question, they talk, lots of dialogue. Sorry. Oh, just so you know, Mark and Roger are 17. Here we go. **

Roger couldn't sleep. He just kissed what he thought was the cutest guy ever. To put it lightly, he was estatic. He kept wanting to get up, walk over to Mark's bed and plant kisses all over him, but he knew he couldn't. That'd be a little too much and Mark was probably sleeping by now anyway. Trying to get his thoughts off Mark, he faced the wall and squeezed his eyes shut. It wasn't helping. He had to do something before he could sleep. He sat up and looked over at Mark's bed.

"Mark," Roger whispered. He was surprised when he heard Mark reply with a "Yeah". He was sure he'd be fast asleep by now. Roger hesitated for a few moments, not knowing how to say what was on his mind. "Would you... maybe... want to go on a date with me?" Mark didn't reply right away, so Roger panicked. "Well, not a _date_ date. We could just hang out... in the weight room, pump some iron and be men." He was interrupted by Mark.

"Roger, please stop rambling. I would love to go on a date with you." Roger smiled in relief. "I'm not sure of what we could do though since we're stuck here. Maybe just go to the next basketball game?"

"Sure," Roger said, still grinning. "I'd like that." They sat their smiling at each other, like love-sick teenagers. Still smiling and staring, Roger added, "Only if it's a boy's game." Mark snorted.

"Figures. You know, I never thought of you as gay." He paused and Roger shrugged. "What about all those girls always hanging all over you?"

"I'd go out with them to keep my rep, but never do anything with them. I tried a few times, but it wasn't that great."

"Ever try anything with a guy?" Mark was a very curious person. Again, Roger grinned.

"No, I haven't. I'm waiting until I find the right guy." Mark guessed that he looked surprised because then Roger added, "Wasn't really expecting to hear that? Well, it's the truth." Mark blushed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. But anyways, that's cool. Not many guys are like that."

"So, let's hear about your sex life now? Any guys... or girls?" Mark smiled, but then it faded and he looked down. Roger instantly felt bad for bringing it up. Obviously, whatever happened wasn't good, but before he could say anything, Mark began.

"No girls, but I dated this guy once, Pete. He was older, like twenty, and in college. I was fifteen. Anyways, I really liked him. He made me feel special when we were together, like he actually wanted me. We were together for a couple months and were getting really close." Mark paused, collecting his thoughts. "We were in his dorm room one night, fooling around. We were about to... you know... without a condom, but I trusted him. Right before we started, his roommate came home so we didn't do it." Mark stopped as he watched his hands fiddle around. Roger came over to Mark and put his hand on his back back for support. "We broke up a few weeks later. A year later, I got a call from his sister, we were friends. He died of AIDS. And he had it when we were together." Mark's head fell into his hands. "I was a few seconds from coming in contact with it, from almost dying." Again, there was a pause. "Every year, on the anniversary of Pete's death, I call his roommate and thank him for coming home that night." Mark was silent for a few seconds, but Roger didn't respond yet. "So yeah, it kind of scared me away from sex." Roger rubbed his hand up and down Mark's back.

"I am so sorry Mark. I had no idea. I shouldn't have brought it up," Roger apologized. Mark stayed quiet. "Here, let's talk about something a little happier. Did you hear Mrs. Simmons is going on materity leave tomorrow? She'll be gone for pretty much the rest of the year. Thank God. I'm getting sick of that bitch. She makes Calculus so much worse." Mark laughed slightly which made Roger smile. "Oh, and Mr. Eastman is totally gay, by the way. He told us he's taking a vacation to Canada to fish. Yeah, whatever. Everyone knows that "I'm going to Canada to fish" really means "I'm gay and I'm getting married 'cause Canadians are cool and not homophobic"." Mark laughed a little harder this time. Roger was happy to cheer Mark up a little.

"Maybe he just likes to fish. Not everyone going to Canada is gay, you know." Roger shook his head in disblief.

"Nah, he's totally queer. His pants are a little too tight for a straight guy. Pretty soon he'll be adopting. Just watch." Mark chuckled once again and lightly pushed Roger, who hardly moved since he was much stronger than Mark. "It's 1:30. Maybe we should get to bed. We have class in the morning." Mark nodded and Roger started to stand up. Mark grabbed Roger by his shirt and pulled him back.

"Lay with me?" he simply asked. Roger tried not to beam as he nodded and they both laid down. In the spooning position, Roger draped his arm over Mark and they both fell fast asleep.

**A/N: Sorry, it's sorta short, but it really is 1:30 and I have to get up at 8:00 tomorrow... ugh. Um, I hope you liked it. It was fun to write. **

**Rachel-- I had to make fun of them... lmfao.**


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